Our View: Fresh thinking needed on ‘green’ living for Maine seniors

We know that Maine’s senior population is growing. We also know that Maine seniors need affordable places to live. Over 9,000 older Mainers are on a waiting list for subsidized housing right now, and many more are expected to join them in the coming years.

Some progress has been made toward this goal: Legislators in June approved a $15 million senior housing bond. Now a western Maine builder is planning a development of energy-efficient, affordable small homes for seniors. To make such projects accessible to as many older Mainers as possible, private-sector thinking about environmentally friendly senior housing should be accompanied by innovative public-sector policymaking on senior transportation.

Justin McIver, left, owner and builder of The Cottages at Willett Brook in Bridgton, makes his pitch last week about affordable, energy-efficient senior housing to Fred and Marcia Hahn of Topsham. To be fully “green,” housing should be as accessible as possible to people who don’t drive – and here’s where government can help. Carl D. Walsh/Staff Photographer

The Cottages at Willett Brook, a planned 60-house development in Bridgton, is the product of discussions between developer Justin McIver and those in their retirement years, McIver recently told the Press Herald. He found that environmentally conscious people age 55 and older want affordable housing that lines up with their ideals – but there’s not a lot of it around.

The roughly 600-square-foot model home starts at around $130,000, and a home measuring around 900 square feet goes for $165,000. Though optional rooftop solar panels will add to the cost of the homes, they’ll also keep heating, cooling and power bills down around $400 a year.

The small houses in The Cottages at Willett Brook are positioned to appeal to both the bargain-minded and the ecologically concerned. Indeed, the project seems to have struck a chord: McIver says two of the first eight homes in the development are occupied, and interest has been expressed in the other six under construction.

The Cottages at Willett Brook is in an appealing location, between Portland and the White Mountains. It’s also about a mile from the nearest supermarket and half a mile from a hospital. This is a lot less spread out than other Maine locales, making it workable for seniors who want to drive fewer miles to get where they need to go.

What’s missing from this picture, both in Bridgton and statewide? Transportation choices for older people who don’t drive at all. For example, walking a mile home from the supermarket with a week’s worth of groceries is difficult in good weather, let alone in the ice and snow.

As the state looks at the impact of its aging population, legislative and community leaders have discussed how to make it easier for seniors to get around.

Interesting ideas have already been presented: leveraging all available federal funds and helping providers like the Regional Transportation Program (which serves Bridgton) work with each other as a system. Set to continue at next month’s Maine Summit on Aging, we hope the discussions will lead to action as well.

Green housing for graying people could be the wave of the future, but developers can’t do all the heavy lifting – policymakers need to get involved, too.

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reed1v

You can order an 800 square foot garage for $20,000. Insulation and utilities are about $5,000. Doll it up with solar stuff and you still can build a livable house for under $50,000. Lets hear it for gouging the elderly to death.

UserInterface

These are not low income housing units, to be sure. However you have to consider any community amenities in the cost of each small home. There is a clubhouse and there may be other things planned such as sidewalks, common spaces, etc. And yes, there is profit for the builder as he is in business to make a living.

yellowkid49

A 600 square foot house for $130,000 on land in the middle of nowhere? I suspect a huge profit for the developer.

reed1v

One of the oldest commercial comic strips was called The Yellow Kid. Any relation?

yellowkid49

Actually it is generally credited as the first, and was used in WR Hearst’s New York Journal. Not too many people pick up on it.

reed1v

Guess you need to be of a certain age.

yellowkid49

🙂

UserInterface

Well I know I won’t be rushing in to buy one. But I suspect the profit margin isn’t outrageous. New construction is pretty expensive, as is permitting, site development, marketing…

Mike White

Thats the name of the game. You don’t develop to lose money. I’m a builder and have looked into this type of housing and development and have nothing but respect for what this guy has put together,

Christopher White

Most garages don’t have any interior walls, nor do they have bathrooms or kitchens with the attendant plumbing and septic costs. It is easy, when you ignore dozens of practical realities, to take a cheap shot for no apparent reason.

reed1v

Not a cheap shot, we did it in several places for quick, inexpensive housing for indigent families. Used utility sheds well insulated with a/b ply interior. All electric. Water and sewer linked to public systems. 4k lots. Did same for roustabouts in oil fields who had families. Nothing fancy but works well. But since your the genius about this stuff, go ahead and pay top dollar for about the same results.

Mike White

People are not being forced to by those homes, The bare bones structures you describe are not what people want. The developer will do very well because he is providing housing and community that makes sense.

reed1v

“Not what people want”? Yes, everyone wants a McMansion, but reality is that for 30% of the nation’s families, they will be lucky to have any roof over their heads. Industrial sheds refitted work fine even for the military. We are not talking about housing the middle classes nor the avant garde wealthy, just dirt poor folks.

Diebenkorn

I’m building a house as cheaply as I possibly can and I’m up to 60K not including the land, well and septic system.

Rest to do is sheetrock and paint, trim, flooring, plumbing and electric fixtures, shower/toilet/vanity buildout, kitchen buildout with usual appliances, heating system (thinking of heat pump and woodstove).

That’s got to be what – another 50K?

reed1v

See my response to White below. If your drilling for a well, might as well go geothermal while drilling the hole.

Mike White

Thats nonsense. I build energy efficient homes that use solar electricity for lighting and heating. The numbers for the homes seem very reasonable with land included.

Birchwind

Of course, the PPH wants to create a problem for government to come to the rescue? Why is this a government issue? Put it to the private sector to fix when and if it becomes a problem!